The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Phlox, botanically known as Phlox paniculata and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Ditostem’.
The new Phlox plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to create new compact Phlox cultivars with attractive leaf and flower coloration.
The new Phlox plant originated from an open-pollination in Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands in July, 2004, of Phlox paniculata ‘Uspech’, not patented, as the female, or seed parent with an unknown selection of Phlox paniculata, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Phlox was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated open-pollination in a controlled outdoor nursery environment in Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands in July, 2005.
Asexual reproduction of the new Phlox plant by cuttings in a controlled greenhouse environment in Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands since January, 2006, has shown that the unique features of this new Phlox plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.